Home Remedies for Headaches - Important Tips

Are you seeking effective home remedies for headaches?

Treating headaches at home seems to have become an increasingly beneficial option. Because the effects of certain over-the-counter headache medications can be rather marked, there have been certain controversies surrounding a few of them, particularly over the fact that the dosage recommendations may be flawed.

This issue just underscores the importance of natural remedies for common issues, and fortunately, there are a number of things that can be done to treat headaches without medication.

Lifestyle Choices and Habits

When it comes to home remedies for headaches, the first step for individuals suffering from headaches should be lifestyle modification. Research has shown that changes in three areas are known to improve headaches in terms of their frequency, duration, and intensity.

Additionally, these changes are not meant to be sweeping, dramatic changes that may be intimidating - rather, the notion is that small changes and a consciousness of one's habits can help treat headaches. The specific areas studied were nutrition, exercise, and understanding stress.

Food, Diet and Nutrition

Nutritionally, one should make changes to their diet in such a way that food triggers are eliminated, allowing one to develop an understanding of which foods are problematic for them. The list of potential "problem foods" is rather long when considering things that may cause headaches, but some of the most common are: chocolate, red wine, caffeine, MSG, Aspartame, cured meats, aged cheese, nuts, nitrate, sulfites, alcohol, and ice cream.

One of the most problematic things in one's diet can be caffeine - both from obvious sources (coffee, tea, etc.) and from sources that many are not aware of (like chocolate). Substitution of similar things in one's diet, such as substituting herbal tea for black tea, can be quite beneficial in terms of headache relief.

Omega 3 fatty acids have also been implicated in studies as playing a role in preventing headaches. Thus, including more fish in one's diet may be beneficial for headache sufferers.

In general, a greater awareness of the food you take in and how it affects you (and your headache patterns) can improve headache problems rather significantly. Indeed, dietary and nutrition choices play a great role in home remedies for headache relief.

Exercise and Physical Activity

Exercise is another important aspect of natural and home remedies for headaches. Because of chemicals released during exercise, it actually increases our ability to cope with pain, and can indeed help to alleviate it.

Of course, sudden or drastic changes can have detrimental effects, so it is important to ease into this part of the plan - but it has documented benefits, with some people even reporting that mild exercise during a migraine helps alleviate the pain.

Stress Management

Another important aspect of home remedies for headache relief is stress management and a heightened understanding of one's stress responses / triggers, which can help to reduce the incidence of headaches.

During a headache, resting, sitting quietly, or lying in a low-lit room can be beneficial, as can taking a bath / shower, nap, or walk. Understanding the events leading up to a headache can help to prevent them in the future.

Furthermore, learning effective methods of stress management can increase your ability to cope, therefore decreasing headaches. Because many headaches are of unknown origin, they are thought to directly relate to feelings of distress in many people. Thus, making an effort to understand your stress levels, and effectively manage them, can be instrumental in home remedies for headaches and in curing headaches.

Home Remedies for Headaches - Conclusion

Although medicine is now so advanced that nearly any problem can be connected to its physiological cause, the lifestyle factors involved in the development of health issues are often overlooked.

In the case of headaches, because we cannot always find a clear "medical" cause, lifestyle factors are often emphasized - as they should be in the treatment of all conditions. This is especially true with headaches, because we do not know what causes them, and research suggests that modification in the areas mentioned above is an excellent and comprehensive way to treat them.

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